Muscle Knots - Trigger Points

When muscle fibers tear, the result is stiffness, pain and inflammation. The body is excellent at “soldering together” the broken ends within a couple of weeks. The end result is a knot, often called a trigger point: a lump where torn ends of fibers have healed.

However, those knotted fibers no longer expand and contract. Muscle strength is proportionally reduced. Even after the torn fibers have healed, if a nerve is involved, there may be chronic pain. A trigger point is aptly named. Pressing on the knot triggers pain!

Arthritis, Scoliosis, AS and Gout

A 40ish client with severe sciatic pain received an X-ray report that indicated she had osteoarthritis in her lumbar spine. She was devastated. She was terrified she’d end up in a wheelchair.

Several of my clients with severe back pain have been rocked by medical diagnoses of osteoarthritis, scoliosis, bulging discs, or ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

Knee Pain

Barring any muscle or ligament tears, my clients’ knee pain often has a simple cause: unbalanced muscle tension that pulls the bones out of alignment. With ongoing use, the cartilage thins and bones “rub,” causing osteoarthritis, aka bone inflammation.

In plain language, osteoarthritis in a knee is caused by one or more tight muscles pulling hard on that knee.

When the unbalanced tension is resolved, and the pressure squeezing the bones together is relieved, the bone inflammation can heal. The body is amazing that way.